Hrothgar Appreciation and Lore

[Seraphor]

I just wish we had some lore on the Hrothgar.
I’d like to change my Hrothgar-to-be alts name to something lore friendly and have no idea what to go with. (and I’d like to use the free server transfer to change the name for free as well but oh well)

Some people are throwing out ‘Norse’ roots, but that’s already taken by Dragons, unless we’re expecting modern ‘nordic’ names instead, like Swedish/Finnish/Norwegian. This would kinda makes sense for a patriarchal society, stuff like x-son, as in son of (fathers name), ‘Erikson’ etc.

Ronso on the other hand apparently have loosely Tibetan lore, and being mountain dwellers that kinda makes sense. (although I don’t think it applies to their names)

Could that be our two clans name roots? Nordic/Tibetan? Or do you think the Tibetan aspect just be present on the First?

[disturbedcobra]

I thought I'd share a little that I found that might help in building on Hrothgar characters. In the lore book, there is a section specifically on Ilsabard and it references that the Southern part of Ilsabard, along with the entirety of the continant have already been taking under control by the Garlean Empire, which would mean that the Hrothgar would either be scattered or in Imperial rule by this point.



Looking further I find that this annexation actually occurred under the original rule of Solus Zos Galvus back in 1522, while the game itself takes place 55 years later around 1577. Doesn't give too much in regards to the Hrothgar and Queen Gunhildr as a whole but does bring to life what there life was more then likely like as we have already seen what has happened t Doma and Ala Mhigo which were annexed at around the same time.

The Garleans' respect for Galvus transformed into worship. In 1517, he was granted control of Garlemald as dictator by popular support. The same year, the republic attacked Dalmasca, a small country nestled in the central mountains, and rained down fire upon it with their new airships. The army turned to conquer the south of Ilsabard, conquering it in 1522. Having unified the continent through force, Galvus proclaimed himself emperor, and created the Garlean Empire.

https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Solus_zos_Galvus

[Bright-Flower]

I'm really curious to learn more about then in the Gunbreaker storyline.

I would have thought, given their appearance and starting armor, they lived in a tribal society not unlike the Xaela. However, them inventing Gunbreakers makes me think they may be more advanced and civilized than first impressions may convey, which could be an interesting juxtaposition.

[VierLeger]

I thought I'd share a little that I found that might help in building on Hrothgar characters. In the lore book, there is a section specifically on Ilsabard and it references that the Southern part of Ilsabard, along with the entirety of the continant have already been taking under control by the Garlean Empire, which would mean that the Hrothgar would either be scattered or in Imperial rule by this point.

To expand on this, only the Helions live primarily in southern Ilsabard. The Lost have explicitly left (or been driven out of) southern Ilsabard, according to the lore on the special site. Where it is precisely they've left to is the question. The special site again implies - but does not state - that all Hrothgar hail from Ilsabard. Complicating matters, The Lost are nomadic, so they may range quite far, making it impossible to say they are "from" anywhere. One would assume they prefer colder climes, due to their color palette, but the special site does not state this, either. Instead, it says that "the cold, wintry colors of their fur are said to serve as a symbol of their independent nature, which drove them far from the warm embrace of their queen."

If they are adapted to living in colder regions, then northern Ilsabard would be a good candidate for their home. That part of the continent is frozen over for most of the year. It is also, ironically, where the Garleans were driven to before they started conquering things. But they really could dwell anywhere in Ilsabard. We know very little about its geography, and there are probably plenty of other cold, inhospitable places.

As to whether they're wolf-like or cat-like, the character creator included with the benchmark allows you to make some that can end up looking somewhat canine, depending on your face, jaw, and nose choices, but they're predominantly feline. Interestingly, faces 5 and 6 include a "mustache" under the "Facial Features" option that very clearly resembles a shortened (vestigial?) version of a Coeurl's whiskers, and those faces have a unique fur texture that makes them look spikier, perhaps even carapaced, not unlike FFXIV's take on Coeurls.

[Qurho]

I'm really curious to learn more about then in the Gunbreaker storyline.

I would have thought, given their appearance and starting armor, they lived in a tribal society not unlike the Xaela. However, them inventing Gunbreakers makes me think they may be more advanced and civilized than first impressions may convey, which could be an interesting juxtaposition.

It definitely left an impression, haha. I was surprised to find that a lot of people were upset that Gunbreaker technology came from the Hrothgar and not the Garleans, in part because of the less than civilized look the newbie gear gave. But I thought the lore made sense - for one, we very rarely see any NPCs actually wearing the new player gear in-game, let alone any job trainers, so the Hrothgar renders on the site may not necessarily reflect the whole of their culture. And second, of course it's unlikely that the Garleans would teach any aether based job with their, uh, inability to manipulate such... but they do have a history of stealing ideas from others (see: allagans, the concept of the Ixali dirigibles into airships), and the Hrothgar do happen to live conveniently nearby...

[Bright-Flower]

It definitely left an impression, haha. I was surprised to find that a lot of people were upset that Gunbreaker technology came from the Hrothgar and not the Garleans, in part because of the less than civilized look the newbie gear gave. But I thought the lore made sense - for one, we very rarely see any NPCs actually wearing the new player gear in-game, let alone any job trainers, so the Hrothgar renders on the site may not necessarily reflect the whole of their culture. And second, of course it's unlikely that the Garleans would teach any aether based job with their, uh, inability to manipulate such... but they do have a history of stealing ideas from others (see: allagans, the concept of the Ixali dirigibles into airships), and the Hrothgar do happen to live conveniently nearby...

I certainly EXPECTED pre GNB announcement that garleans would have something to do with the gunblade job, or failing that, garlond ironworks. But I don't mind it being someone else. And given the name gun breaker I suspect we may find that the Hrothgard devised it as a counter to garlean guns etc, but we'll find out for sure soon enough.

And yeah, you don't tend to see starting armor on npcs. Except Fran because for Viera it was modeled off Fran's outfit. And really the Au Ra starting gear fits better for Xaela than Raen as well.

[Koti]

Speaking of Hrothgar and Gunbreaker-- This got me thinking.

Since the Pureblood race (and thus the Republic) was pushed up into the hostile lands of Ilsabard, due to their lack of magic and they would hire mercenaries with what little they had to protect what little bit of land was slowly being taken away from them...

Maybe the Garleans learned how to use/make their gunblades from the Hrothgar they were neighboring with and over time, create their own unique flare different from the Hrothgar.

Just a thought.